1:4:2 Tarthesis (Part 4)

The shield crackled as it held back the native atmosphere. The dome was completely surrounded, buried in the man-made mountains. They scanned their surroundings, ensuring they were alone before inputting the co-ordinates of the point just to their left, within the shield.
“Are we ready?” Char was ready to jump again.
They couldn’t see anyone on either side of the barrier so it was looking more than safe. They were just about to give Char the go ahead when they realised the glaringly obvious. “Gas masks.” Lore said as they pulled their mask over their face.
“Why?” She pulled her own to the ready.
“Because of the gas?” Lore pointed back at the zone.
“Oh…” Char scanned the enclosure to see what they were holding back. “Nothing too toxic. You’d survive for a bit there. Maybe five minutes.”
“Because that went so well for us on Rexel.” Lore scoffed.
“Good point.” She responded, putting her own mask on. “What about them?”
Sky looked at her confused. “I lived on Rexel for almost all of my life. I’ve never needed a gas mask.”
Accepting that, Char double checked the co-ordinates before rallying them back to her. She pressed the activation key and was immediately thankful for the gas mask as Lore’s wrist screamed at them. Lore waved it in her face showing her the many warnings that didn’t show up on Char’s scan. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the list before comparing it to her own device’s break down.
“Why’s it not picked up that?” She looked over Lore’s list again. “Ah… Not toxic to Quatarrians… Good thing you put the mask on; this stuff’s properly lethal to humans.”
Lore pulled a face even though they knew Char couldn’t see it; Char gave them a playful nudge as they walked into the ‘wild’ zone.

The fog was much thicker than Rexel had ever been although it didn’t share the same metallic stench. Lore didn’t know how the others were navigating and they didn’t quite understand how they were doing it either but the spectral footprints they were following hadn’t led them astray yet; they didn’t have to turn back to know the path they had followed was already gone. As they travelled deeper, it cleared somewhat. Never completely but their visibility certainly improved. Figures developed ahead of them. Thin figures. They lurked in the mists, seemingly unaware of Lore’s party’s existence but that soon changed.
“Where’d they go?” Lore muttered to themselves.
“Where’d who go?” Char squinted in the blackness.
Lore saw something behind them. They swivelled on their heels but there was nothing there. Flickers in their peripheral vision taunted them, flashing all around them as they walked in deeper. The floor hardened from the soft and uneven soil to a carved stone. The centre of the settlement was all around them but they had no idea. Char took one last step forward before undoing it, bringing herself and Lore to a halt. They stood there, in the settlement’s centre and waited. Lore’s heart had been beating out of their chest since they started the adventure and given the time passed, it had almost broke its way through. They just waited.
There was an almost rhythmic snarling and growling that slowly began around them. There was a pattern to it but one Lore and their party couldn’t decipher. The snarling became sniffing as one of the beings inspected them. It got close to their face before dropping to the floor and sniffing at their lower extremities. A second presence was felt, gently moving the first aside.
“Humans… What are you here?” It’s voice was hoarse but not painfully so. “What are doing here? Leaf now.”
“We come in peace.” Sky held up their hands. Their words meant less than nothing. The being advanced closer.
Lore resisted the urge to twitch as a voice started whispering in their ear. Even thought it was their own, they refused to listen, remaining silent and twitching in front of the being.
“You okay?” It took a step back. “Strange human need leaf.” It pointed back the way they came.
“We’re not here to hurt you. We came to learn about your people.” Char spoke slowly and chose her words wisely.
The natives started conversing in their own language before turning to look at Lore before talking to Char. “This human your human? Good human?”
“Good human.” Char responded. “They don’t mean harm.” Char patted Lore’s shoulder. Her hand started to glow as it came into contact with them. The second pat saw her hand phase into Lore. Char was absorbed in her entirety.

Anxiously, they took their first step together; the locals backed away. The cloudy atmosphere glowed with their light as they hyperventilated. As their breathing quickened, gravity seemed to lose its hold on them.
“They come.” It turned to the other natives and gestured for them to bow. It had needn’t bothered as its compatriots were already on the floor, kneeling. It spoke again in it’s native language but this time, they understood. “All hail They who ride on golden wings.” The sentiment was echoed by the rest of the colony. “Great one, I am the one known as Ahnis. Please show me mercy for my transgressions.”
They took a step toward Ahnis but only Lore’s feet moved. Char remained where they had been. Lore span on their heels and stared through Char.
“What was that?” Char whimpered.
“I’m sorry.” Lore’s eyes grew wider.
“Welcome. We sorry for prejudice. Please, I show you to house.” Ahnis parted the kneeling crowd and gestured for Lore and Char to follow.
It led them through the cloud to a small hut. The atmosphere inside was visibly clearer; there were also various human relics dotted around the place. “Sit please.” Ahnis thought for a moment, muttering under its breath. “Make your selfs at home.” Its English was stilted.
“You have a nice home. Where did you get these things?” Char sat down and began searching through the disc collection by the chair.
“Humans use home as land full site. Old parts and left over things sent to us. Only time we see them.” Ahnis grabbed a tray and brought it over. “Please, take food. Food made by… Food made by person in house next to me.”
“Thank you. It looks lovely.” Char handed Sky a cup from the tray before taking one for herself.
“You very polite. We barely see outsiders but you nice.” It set the tray down.
Char took a sip before checking what she had drank using her wrist. She took another sip after taking Sky’s away from her. “What happened to this planet? Surely your atmosphere was supposed to cover the whole planet.”
Ahnis sighed. “We did own planet; not long ago but humans came and steel from us. They saw us and our Gnil’rets from afar then created shields. Never saw their face just mask. We would have shared but they no listen.”
“What do you mean?” Sky took a flask from their pocket and took a drink.
“We new human cannot breath our air. We have Seivads, air cleaners, and we wanted to clean land for them but they started without us. Our land made smaller, houses destroyed.”
Lore sat forward. “I am so sorry this happened to you. If we could, we would help you.”
“You help us greatly. Gods walk among us. Honoured.” Ahnis tried to offer them a drink but Char denied it for them.
“Sorry but it’s bugging me: How come you speak English if you never met the humans?” Char set her glass down.
Ahnis removed a device from their belt and handed it to Char. “Found in pile. We fix and make work. It is a translator. Not perfect but good enough.”
“You repaired this?” Char manipulated the translator module. It was clear a number of modifications had been made; there was a human base layer but atop that, vine like wires spread across connecting the human to the native. “This is incredible.” She followed the complement by handing the device to Lore.
Lore followed the wires around the device, examining the linkages and connections. “Definitely impressive considering this was a ship’s translation unit.” They ran their fingers along the serial number. “It was designed for text based translations, subtitling foreign messages.” They put their ear to the speaker to hear what sounded like their own voice speaking Ahnis’ language. “To achieve real time translation with this sort of a device is nothing short of a miracle. How did you upload your language?”
“I use this.” Ahnis ejected a small drive from the device. It waved it about before returning it. “I found compatible part move data.” It tutted. “Old machine. Old part. Data centre nearly twenty years prior. Need barter from collector so old. Synthetic person inside still clever.”
“Synthetic person inside?” Char looked to Lore.
“Synthetic person.” Lore repeated. They muttered it over and over again then they clicked their fingers. “Artificial intelligence! All translation modules contained their own AIs to aid in providing the most accurate translations. Never as good as human translators but they didn’t miss too much.” Lore handed back the module. “If you’ve made this, have you ever thought of using it?”
“Always. I wish commune with humanity; others say no. My people think humanity unworthy of communication. They sent first message; they no want talk us we no talk them.” Ahnis took a drink. “I am leader. If humanity talk, I will listen. I want piece for all.”
“Even after all they’ve done?” Char looked at it, confused.
“Maybe if we talk, no misunderstanding.”
“I hope you’re right but I wouldn’t hold your breath.” Sky sighed.
“Why wood hold breath? Thank for confidence.” Ahnis bowed.
Lore’s Breacher flashed twice. “We would love to be able to do more but, at the moment, we are in the middle of a time sensitive mission; once we’ve completed that, we’d be more than happy to help lend a hand to your peace efforts.” Char reached out to shake Ahnis’ hand but ended up wrapped in its embrace.
“I thank for your offer. I hope we work well together.” Ahnis tightened its grip before letting her go.
“We’ve got a meeting to get to so we can keep this one safe.” Lore nodded to Sky. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
Ahnis moved to open the door but realised that the group were still stood in its front room. “Door over here.”
“Bye.” Lore waved as they and their companions vanished into thin air.

“That went quickly.” Sky looked to Lore.
“We must have spent longer wandering in the fog than we thought.” Lore looked to Char, confused.
“I may have skipped us ahead slightly…” She squirmed on the spot. Lore and Sky stared at her. “It was only ten minutes. It was so it looked like we walked there. Then I set your Breacher alarm ten minutes early so I could do the same thing on the way back. Sorry. I should have told you but it felt like the right thing to do. You didn’t suspect a thing and neither did they.” She shrugged.
“Enjoy your walk?” He didn’t let them answer. “I hope you got to see what we had to do. Savages and lawless folk.”
“We didn’t really see anything.” Lore chuckled nervously. “Visibility was so bloody poor.”
“Filth breeds filth and apparently breathes it too.” He typed something on a small keyboard which he quickly concealed. Lore contorted their neck to see what he had hidden but was jolted by a sudden noise.